Description
Book SynopsisThomas Doherty offers a lively and comprehensive cultural history of the media coverage of the abduction of the child of Charles and Anne Lindbergh and its aftermath. He traces how newspapers, radio, and newsreels reported on what was dubbed the crime of the century.
Trade ReviewRecommended as a top 5 true crime read for the month of November 2020. * CrimeReads *
Little Lindy Is Kidnapped is a spellbinding rollercoaster of a read. It adds significantly to our understanding of how commercial media developed in the United States, exploring the roles of technological change, cultural imperatives, petty rivalries, coincidence, capitalism, and the things we most fear. -- Kathryn Fuller-Seeley, author of
Jack Benny and the Golden Age of American Radio ComedyDoherty locates, summarizes, and critiques an impressive array of long-forgotten and fascinating media. His writing style is fluid and almost conversational, making
Little Lindy Is Kidnapped both rigorous scholarship and an enjoyable read. Doherty's book teaches us that 'ripped from the headlines' media and twenty-four hour broadcast news started a long time before
Law and Order and CNN. -- Michael J. Socolow, author of
Six Minutes in Berlin: Broadcast Spectacle and Rowing Gold at the Nazi OlympicsLittle Lindy Is Kidnapped takes the famous baby’s abduction as a case study in the reach of journalism, radio, and newsreels in the mid-twentieth century. In genial, erudite prose, Doherty explains the mechanics of contemporary news production and dissemination and reveals how this heartbreaking affair reached the American public. In doing so, he highlights the work of beat reporters, pressmen, radio broadcasters, and newsreel cameramen that kept the country mesmerized by the police investigation and the trial that followed.
Little Lindy Is Kidnapped is a gripping account of the story behind the story. -- Mikita Brottman, author of
An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the BelvedereLindbergh kidnapping buffs, media scholars, and those interested in media history will be intrigued. * Library Journal *
With scrupulous research and thrilling insight,
Little Lindy Is Kidnapped reveals that the news coverage surrounding the kidnapping of Little Lindy is just as historically significant as the crime itself. * Los Angeles Review of Books *
A well-researched and readable book that provides a good overview of how media covered and presented the kidnapping and the trial. * Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books *
Think there’s nothing more to be said about the Lindbergh case? Think again, and read this book. * Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine *
This book should command the attention of a variety of interested readers, particularly scholars of New Jersey history, media history, and the never dull Lindbergh saga. * New Jersey Studies *
Table of ContentsA Prefatory Note
Prologue: The Sky God
1. The Crime of the Century
2. A Story That Penetrated the Thickest Skin
3. A Medium of Audible Journalism
4. Nobody Ever Walked Out on a Newsreel
5. Get the Lindbergh Killers!
6. Hollywood and the Lindbergh Kidnapping
7. The Greatest Murder Trial the World Has Ever Known
8. Into the Ether
9. The Eye and Ear of Millions
10. The Verdict
11. Death Watch
Epilogue: The Legacies of the Crime of the Century
Thanks and Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
